NEWS
--A former Little Falls man has been sentenced for ramming his vehicle into another while driving on Interstate-94 on Christmas Day.
A Stearns County judge has sentenced 34-year-old Kevin Desmet-Groseclose to a stayed sentence of two years and nine months in prison. He must serve 103 additional days in the county jail. He gets credit for having already served 77 days. Desmet-Groseclose pleaded guilty to four counts of 2nd-degree assault with a deadly weapon in February. According to the criminal complaint, officers responded to a crash on Interstate-94 near Avon shortly before 1am. Authorities say when they arrived they found Desmet-Groseclose sitting in a black pickup and two adults and two children inside a blue SUV. The complaint says the driver of the SUV told authorities they had been going east on the interstate when the truck pulled up behind them, flashed its lights, and pulled over into the other lane. The driver of the SUV sped up to get away from the truck but says Desmet-Groseclose sped up as well and crashed into the driver’s side of the SUV. According to the complaint Desmet-Groseclose drove by when the SUV came to a stop, but turned around and drove at the SUV head-on. The driver of the SUV continued eastbound and was able to avoid a second collision before stopping again. This time, authorities say Desmet-Groseclose got out of his vehicle and was hitting the windows of the SUV with a pop can while shouting. Officers say when they spoke to Desmet-Groseclose he seemed manic and was talking about his daughters being missing and possibly kidnapped. Authorities say he later calmed down and remembered little about what had happened during the incident and his arrest.
--A motorcycle driver was seriously hurt in a crash near Clearwater. The Minnesota State Patrol says the incident happened at about 5:20pm Tuesday at the intersection of Highway 24 and 160th Street Northwest. Sixty-three-year-old Peter Miessen of Maple Lake was going south on Highway 24 on his motorcycle when it collided with a van going west on 160th Street driven by 67-year-old David Kunkel of Clearwater. Miessen was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Kunkel was not hurt.
--A Wadena County man suffered burns on his hands after his tractor caught fire Saturday. The Wadena County Sheriff’s Office reported a call at 4:16am Saturday for a tractor fire in Wadena Township. Deputies arrived to find the tractor fully engulfed in flames. Verndale firefighters extinguished the fire quickly after arriving on scene. The tractor appeared to be a total loss, according to the sheriff’s office, but no other buildings or equipment were damaged. The cause of the fire is unknown. The tractor owner had small burns on his hands due to unhooking a chopper from the tractor.
--An Alexandria woman was killed when the UTV she was driving rolled over on top of her. Around 7:45pm Tuesday the Douglas County Sheriff office got a call of a UTV rollover. The callers indicated they were driving by and saw the UTV in the ditch rolled over and determined a person was trapped underneath of it. The callers were able to roll it off the driver and began life-saving measures. It was determined a short time later that the person, 39-year old Jennifer Craig of Alexandria had died. Initial investigation indicates the UTV was southbound on Wild Rose Lane when it left the roadway entering the ditch and rolling over.
--The Pine County Sheriff’s Office says a missing teenage boy has been found safe. They had been looking for 15-year old Sebastion Wolbersen-O’Hara after he left on bike Friday. He was found safe.
--Of more than 1 million Minnesotans who applied for a frontline worker bonus check last month, about 214,000 have been denied, according to the state. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry said Tuesday that the state received 1,199,416 "hero pay" applications – slightly fewer than the total reported at the end of the application period due to withdrawals. The bonus checks will come from $500 million set aside by legislators for workers deemed essential during the pandemic. Payouts will be based on the final number of approved applications, and could amount to approximately $400 per person, several hundred less than original estimates. Starting Tuesday the state began to notify the 214,209 applicants that were denied for one of more of the following five reasons: Employment eligibility, unemployment insurance benefit threshold, adjusted gross income threshold, identity verification and duplicate application. Those with denied applications will be notified via email, but are eligible to submit an appeal in following 15-day appeals period, which will end on August 31st at 5pm. The Department of Labor and Industry says it plans to disperse payments this fall.
--The Minnesota Department of Revenue says the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office recently charged Blaine Butler, of Staples, with four felony counts of failing to file income tax returns. According to the complaint, Butler failed to file his state income tax returns for tax years 2017 through 2020. The complaint also alleges Butler’s wife, Melony Butler, through her work as director of the nonprofit Eagle’s Healing Nest, withdrew funds from the nonprofit for her personal use and that those amounts should have been reported as taxable income on their jointly filed returns. Despite receiving multiple letters from the department demanding they file the missing returns, the Butlers allegedly failed to do so until the investigation was nearly complete. However, the complaint states that those returns were based solely on Mr. Butler’s W-2 income and did not include the taxable income they received from Eagle’s Healing Nest. Butler allegedly owes over $6,200 in income tax, penalties, and interest.
–A reminder that the Jazz Authority performance which is a fundraiser for Great River Arts is tonight. Doors open at 5pm with an evening of fun and music. Tickets are $39 and can be purchased online at Greatart.org or call GRA today at 320-632-0960 for details.
DEATH NOTICES
--Lucille C. Boser, age 95 of Little Falls.
--Gary Chock, age 75 of Browerville.
WEATHER
TODAY= scattered showers and storms, some heavy rain, high 77.
TONIGHT= showers and storms with heavy rains, low near 60.
FRIDAY= showers and storms, with heavy rains, high 71, low 55.
SATURDAY= showers and storms with clearing late, high 69, low 57.
SUNDAY= sunny skies, high 72, low around 50.
SPORTS
TWINS= The Twins beat Kansas City yesterday 4-0 to complete the 3-game sweep. Twins are off today and host Texas this weekend.
CLASS C= Class C State Baseball Saturday with Avon vs. Fairmont playing at 11am in Dundas, Pierz Lakers vs. Watkins at 4:30pm in Faribault then Buckman vs. Cannon Falls around 7pm also in Faribault. Hear all three games Saturday live on AM960 KLTF.
CLASS B= Sobieski vs. Blaine Saturday at 1:30pm in Miesville will also be heard live on AM960 KLTF and online at fallsradio.com.